Latest Category: The 2023 Dictators’ Playbook

In 2023, emboldened tyrants from Central America to Eastern Europe engaged in more drastic and crueler forms of repression in order to stamp out any possible challenges to their rule. The dictatorial regimes of Belarus and Nicaragua, for example, have taken their repression across their own borders, stripping exiled dissidents of their citizenship. 

In September 2022, Iran’s morality police detained 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly not wearing her hijab in accordance with the regime’s mandatory dress code. She was later killed in police custody, sparking a nationwide revolution. 

Today, a staggering 5.7 billion people — 72% of the global population — live under the tyranny of an authoritarian regime. As they rise in numbers and strength, autocrats maintain a domestic and international hold with an all-too-similar playbook.